Sun-Times Spotlights Good News About Condos

On the front page of Sunday's edition (left), the Chicago Sun-Times spotlights "Good News!" about the Chicago housing market, including condos.

In the article, reporter Sandra Guy paraphrases the lead paragraph from our report on this blog last Wednesday (see below) that dollars generated from Chicago condo sales are down only 4%, comparing the first quarter of 2008 to the first quarter of 2007. She also notes that the median sales price of city condos is up, in sharp contrast to the decline in prices in many other major markets.

Sandra also quotes two brokers whose analyses of the market were featured on this blog in March (@properties' Mike Golden) and April (Dave Hanna, managing partner of Prudential SourceOne Realty).

The article is illustrated by a valuable map that shows the change in median sales price of condos in all 77 census areas in Chicago.

We've been critical of the local media for overly negative characterization of the current city condo market, so we'd like to compliment the Sun-Times for giving a more balanced view and for spotlighting the good news on the front page of its Sunday edition.

In our coverage, we never want to be guilty of glossing over problems in the market and don't expect the rest of the media to do so. What we expect, from ourselves and other media, are these traits: authority (using and citing the best available sources of data), accuracy, context, fairness and balance.

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